Wheat Futures Higher as Black Sea Fighting Continues — Daily Grain Highlights

By Kirk Maltais

--Wheat for December delivery rose 1.8% to $7.47 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, with Russia and Ukraine continuing to exchange blows in its ongoing war that has left major grain ports in the Black Sea unable to move wheat.

--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.5% to $13.16 3/4 a bushel.

--Corn for December delivery fell 0.8% to $5.32 3/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

No Peace: Despite visits to Russia by White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner over the weekend, the war between Russia and Ukraine stays raging. That was the chief factor supporting wheat futures Tuesday, said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. "Wheat popped back to the upside after lack of any substantive solution for the Russian invasion of Ukraine," said Sernatinger.

WASDE Prep: The next WASDE report is due Friday and is expected to contain new estimates regarding output from American farms. This follows a summer that has been nice in some parts, but also tough in terms of hot and dry weather along with little precipitation to replenish soil moistures in many places. The extent of stress-related damage has been a factor kicking CBOT grain futures back up to recent multi-year highs in recent trading.

INSIGHT

In Retaliation: U.S. farmers are in the crosshairs of the retaliatory tariffs enacted by Canada starting Tuesday. Not only are U.S. dairy products like cheese and whey slapped with new tariffs, but farm equipment is as well--including some mowers and other harvesting equipment. For U.S. farmers already struggling with high input costs, Canada's latest move will make input costs that much more onerous. "U.S. agriculture faces weaker sales, demands for discounts and potential substitution toward Canadian or other foreign suppliers," said Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull Trading.

Mixed Bag: Weather is creating two different situations for U.S. crops this week. In the Midwest, a cold front is swooping through and providing relief, says the USDA in its latest daily weather report. "Rain is benefiting any immature summer crops," the USDA said. Meanwhile, temperatures in the Plains remain "scorching" across the southeastern portion of the region, impacting immature summer crops as well as pastures and livestock health.

Healthy Start: Export inspections of U.S. corn shipments exceeded shipments recorded at this time last week and last year -- a positive start for the new marketing year, said the USDA in its weekly Grain Export Inspections report published Tuesday. For the week ended Sept. 3, corn inspections were 1.66 million metric tons. That's up from 1.5 million metric tons at this time last week, and from 1.44 million metric tons at this time last year. The new marketing year for U.S. corn and soybeans began Sept. 1, making Tuesday's report the first report since the 2026/27 marketing year became current. Soybean shipments totaled 422,016 tons for the week, better than the previous week but less than this time last year. Mexico was the leading destination for corn, and Egypt was the top destination for soybean shipments.

AHEAD

--The EIA will release its Weekly Petroleum Status Update report at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 08, 2026 15:13 ET (19:13 GMT)